So much fail.

[tuesdayficarchived]

So my lost purse with my debit card (now hot carded) and I think with A Movable Feast (thankfully already finished, though I'm one of the few in my class who likes it, damn it)? Also had my flash drive in it. And I hadn't sent important paper to my prof while all fucked up with sleep dep like I thought I had. And it was only on that lost flashdrive.

So! I'll be writing more than one paper while staying up tonight. What does this additional bit of stress mean? My loss is your gain.

Drabble trading. Yes, I know I had prompts open, but they're closed except to someone who'd asked about a fandom before I wrote this entry. This is more stress than usual, and I need something to keep me from hiding in the library basement's bathroom and never, ever, ever coming out again. There are sinks in that bathroom, and a surprisingly clean floor. I could make it until starvation set in, and so few people come along it would be years before they found my body.

You write me one drabble (and I'll be loose in the definition of this), and I'll write you two--basically, I write one, you write one, I give you another. Rinse and repeat for however long you like. I'm crossposting this with my fandom journal.

And . . . go!

ETA: Tomorrow, 4/24/2008, at 11:59:59 p.m., the drabble trade will officially be Over. By which I mean I will answer any submitted before that time with the two to one deal, but merely admire and feedback any submitted after. Because of this, you can submit as many as you want without waiting for me to catch up (and even make vague suggestions I might follow for my responses). So. Last chance. TWO TO ONE. GO!

(If I'm flooded, I'm going to try to have all my responses back by the end of finals, but I make no guarantees other than there will be responses to everything submitted before 12:00:00 4/25.)

Closed

Comments

[zorame.livejournal.com]

Just a drabble? Any drabble? You're on.

~~*~~

"I always thought it'd be ... bigger."

"It is big. It is vast and enormous and endless," Lee protested as he situated himself a bit more firmly at Gaara's side, and stealthily shook beach sand from his bandages.

It wasn't that Lee was unused to sand; spending as much time around the Kazekage as he tended to, he was used to sand inching and creeping into every crevasse of his body, sifting through his hair, or forever having to be dug free from under fingernails.

This sand felt different, grittier somehow, like comparing talc powder to dirt. Lee hefted a handful of it and dropped it, watching as it clumped damp back against the rest. "I wasn't talking about the sea," Gaara piped up quietly to his right. Lee glanced over at him briefly and nodded, only once.

He too had expected ... more.

The two genin stood and brushed themselves off, and walked away side by side from the sea. Behind them, foam crested red and thick up along the shore, gently lapping over the still bodies, two of them, matted green and red.

[zorame.livejournal.com]

( I realized how vague I was with this. The nature of the beast with drabbles, maybe. Lee and Gaara are old in the water, thus Gaara was the Kazekage, but now they're genin-age again... thus the inconsistency.)

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

The thing about sand and water mixing was that the sand clumped, became too difficult to manipulate. It weighed down with the water, refused to move until it dried out as though paralyzed.

So when Gaara said he did not want to go in the lake this last day of vacation and instead sat on a cloud of his sand a few inches from the shore, staring at the water with suspicion, Lee didn't insist. And when Naruto shoved him in anyway, laughing and shouting something about getting his feet wet, Lee helped fish the both out before they drowned.

Who tried to fight underwater anyway?

And second one! (Because you know about it, but it will never be finished, hokage!Lee AU snippet)

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

Shino knew this was bad, had known this was bad even before Rock Lee had appeared without the Hokage's cap or his weights, flying in like some avenging god, but even then knowing it couldn't be enough, not with so many away.

When one more shinobi turned her attention Shino's way than he had resources to deal with, his only reassurance was that the rest of his team was on the Hinata rescue mission, and if it had gone well, they would appear after the worst of the damage was done and all that was left was cleaning up the mess. There was nowhere left to retreat, so he stood, watching, as she drew closer, around what was left of his hive attacking what was left of his attackers. Shino wasn't afraid to die--it was a fact of shinobi life--and he wanted to face his death with his chin up and eyes forward.

So he didn't miss a thing when a blur of fur and teeth slammed into her, tore out her throat with one quick, messy spray of blood. When Akamaru turned, muzzle coated in red and eyes flashing, he was one of the most beautiful things Shino had ever seen.

"Hello, mutt," Shino said calmly. "Where's your--" He paused, eyes narrowed, to direct his hive in part back to him for defense, and part to aid other offensive efforts. He ignored the mess of bodies where his previous attackers lay, eyes scanning the battlefield.

There were Lee's genin and two of Sakura's, working their way in tandem around the outskirts, stopping briefly to help where needed. Moegi had broken off from the returning group early on, on the opposite side to rejoin with Konohamaru.

Shino took off his glasses with one hand, and buried the other in Akamaru's fur. He thought briefly on what Kiba might have said. "Let's go kill things," he told Akamaru.

Akamaru whined once, high, in agreement.

Shino released him, and moved toward the largest threatening group, calling up all his inner reserves. It was a good day to destroy.

Re: And second one! (Because you know about it, but it will never be finished, hokage!Lee AU snippet

[(Anonymous)]

[ sorry if this seems stilted. Wrote this twice because first time it didn't want to post. TT ]

Gaara was fairly convinced that Lee wasn't stupid. Perhaps oblivious to the point of it being deliberate naievity; or maybe Lee just retained intillect in certain areas while greatly neglecting others, but Gaara was pretty sure that Lee wasn't inspid and didn't have a death wish. It still didn't explain the deluge of water dripping from his hair and smudging up the ink of the reports, strewn and floating across his suddenly flooded desk.

He carefully pried bits of deflated rubber from his hair and stood, chair spinning, and stalked to lean out the window. Lee waved excitedly up at him from several stories below and hefted another water balloon.

"Gaara," Lee called, striking a pose from below as several Genin raced past him shrieking and threatening one another with the unusual not-quite-weapons, "come join the fun!"

"Fun...?" Gaara shook his head and scowled as water went raining from his hair. He reminded himself, yet again, that Lee wasn't brain-damaged. Maybe the Suna heat was just too much for him.

"Yes!" Lee nodded as he squeezed the balloon in his fist and grinned, "come down and join me in the Springtime Of Our Watery Y--wagh!"

Gaara watched with supreme satisfaction as Lee plowed face-first into the soaking desert grass underfoot, under a surprise ambush of several dozen water balloons, and made a mental note to give his ANBU a pay raise. Even if they were breaking several rules on water conservation.

Re: And second one! (Because you know about it, but it will never be finished, hokage!Lee AU snippet

[zorame.livejournal.com]

*points up* Zorame btw. XD;

And the card game I created in one fic crops up elsewhere (and will again in the future)

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

[ahahah, I love that Gaara's ANBU defend his honor.]

Red, blue, green. Lee flipped through the cards quickly, eyes shifting from one to the next to the next, before starting all over again.

"Hurry up and choose," came Neji's bored voice.

"I, I will!" Lee promised, fingering first the blue card, then switching swiftly back to the red. "Any moment now."

If he chose the blue, then he might still be able to--but no, what if Neji already had the shadow puppets? Lee would be utterly destroyed. Maybe the green? But he knew Neji was in possession of the Second and Third, and that way seemed certain death. That left the red, but it was entirely possible that--

"Don't choose the red one," Naruto spoke directly in Lee's ear, leaning over his shoulder to examine his cards.

Neji directed his deadpan glare Naruto's way. "You're out of the game. You're not allowed to help."

Naruto grinned at him. "I'm out of the game, so I can help as much as I want."

Tenten grimaced. "We all know Neji's going to win anyway. Give up already, Lee, so we can stop playing this damn game."

"No, I can still do this!" said Lee. "I won't give up!" He chose the red one.

Tenten groaned and said, "Typical."

It really, really was. From the other side of the red, Gaara of the Sand glowered back at him. This was what came of playing the new Assassins deck, Lee thought mournfully. Death by desert coffin.

"I don't actually look like that," said Gaara, leaning over Lee's other shoulder.

Neji put down his cards, allowing himself a small smirk that drove Lee insane. "He never needs to quit for me to beat him."

"I told you," said Naruto. "Red is your one true weakness."

Lee stared at Gaara--still leaning over his shoulder and brushing lightly against his back, entirely too close--and supposed it was kind of true.

My drabble - let me shows you it

[lizfu.livejournal.com]

I couldn't think of any fanfiction *fails* so I decided to give you original fiction. Exactly 100 words. Quality is not guaranteed, unfortunately. Man, Zane is an asshole....:

When Zane looks at Luca, he sees the other man’s sister. They share the same sleek black hair, though hers had been shinier while Luca’s is dull at any angle in any light. They have the same build: slim and small. As Zane holds him in his arms, it feels like he is holding her all over again. Luca isn’t weak as she had been. He genuinely has muscle on his body, though in his uniform, it is hard to tell. Underneath, Zane feels the same fragility that Luca’s sister had, and when he kisses Luca, he's kissing her again.

Re: My drabble - let me shows you it

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

[also original]
"What do you mean you were elected emperor?"

"Your asshole brother abdicated while you were gone, and tried instituting a democratic system. They didn't understand the idea of a president, but they did end up deciding I could run the country better, and they all apparently think I'm married to you anyway."

"But we're both male!"

"I know."

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Oh, don’t worry. One of my first acts as emperor was his execution.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding.”

“Oh, good.”

“I tried to have him flogged.”

“I really hope you’re kidding.”

“If that’s what helps you sleep at night.”

Re: My drabble - let me shows you it

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

[also original and exactly 100 words]

She pushed a hand through her spiky hair, trying to judge if green just wasn’t her color, or if she really was that pale, like fish left too long in the fridge. “Bring me the razor.”

“Tess.”

“Razor.” She held out a hand.

“Only if you promise not to shave your eyebrows this time.”

Tess turned to her boyfriend, lifting one of the eyebrows he deemed too precious to go. “And if I did, what then?”

“You freak,” he said with some affection. “If I didn’t dump you over the pegging, I’m not going to dump you over the hair.”

Re: My drabble - let me shows you it

[lizfu.livejournal.com]

The ending I want to write for the short story I'm revising for English class:

"I don't love her anymore!" Eric shouted at the desert sky.

He then tackled Karl and they had hot, impractical sex that lasted all day and went well into the night. Eric got sand up his ass, but he had never felt better.

The End.

Re: My drabble - let me shows you it

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

[I call ooc. XD]

"Hey, asshole!" Mikah kept going, so Jakhob stopped and pulled off his left sneaker, hefting it in his hand, judging the weight, the shape, and Mikah's current speed. Jakhob pegged him in the back of the head with ease--he hadn't been given the position of pitcher all the way through high school just because his ass looked great in the tight white baseball pants.

Mikah stopped, turned, and picked up the shoe. "I'm keeping this," he said. Then he went back to walking away. This would probably have been fine, but Jakhob was insane, he should have known this. Jakhob just had to remind him.

It was easy to abandon the other sneaker so as not to let it throw him off balance. Mikah turned at the sound of running steps on concrete, but not soon enough. Jakhob's tackle took him at the waist.

Gai, Kakashi

[fascimility.livejournal.com]

[I hope things go better with you. TT____TT The part about starving in the bathroom scares me. It's a horrid and sinking and utterly helpless and raging feeling to lose something that important. D: Chill. ♥ Stay okay.]

*

Gai thrust his hips out in a manly show of prowess. The glare of the sun magnified tenfold upon being reflected off the surface of Gai's teeth, rendering Kakashi temporarily blind.

He squinted through the unrelenting glare, but relented in a moment conceded some ground by raising a languid arm in defence.

"Like this!" Gai proclaimed, ever so subtly shifting his stance. "The angle of your hips is incorrect, Kakashi!"

Well damn, Kakashi thought. The sharingan might render flawless illusions to the viewer, Gai, Gai's sunsets and waves were seen by everyone.

It was with great regret that nightfall came, and with it the ignomity of defeat. There was no illusion that escaped Kakashi's mastery, save perhaps the inexplicability of sheer Gai-ness. Kakashi didn't think his raging blizzard over snowy wasteland would cut it, even if Gai seemed ammenable. He'd never been a sunset and waves person anyway.

Re: Gai, Kakashi

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

[I ended up going home and getting some sleep, and I'm feeling better as far as the despair goes. There's still rage and a sick helpless feeling, but I'm doing better. Thanks. ♥ I took the prompt you'd submitted for this, and it's an exact drabble (100 words).]

"There are some boxes that should stay closed," said Kakashi, "because if you open them, there's no going back."

Guy swallowed hard, mouth dry. "Maybe I don’t want to go back," he said, voice hoarse, words crackling like dry leaves in his mouth.

Kakashi looked away. "So that means you get to decide for everyone?"

“No,” said Guy. “But what if the box is already open?”

Kakashi ran a tired hand down the side of his face. Guy didn’t reach out. What was there left to say?

“Give me some time,” said Kakashi.

Guy nodded. Time was all he had.

Second Guy/Kakashi

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

And for your second one, something happier crack-ier:

Kakashi looked from Guy to the dresser. "No," he said. Guy gave Kakashi one of those pleading looks. "Hell, no."

"I did your stupid sexy no jutsu challenge and roleplayed three scenes from Icha Icha Tactics," Guy pointed out.

"You enjoyed tying me up as much as I did," said Kakashi. "Maybe more."

"There was also the gag."

"You brought that on yourself."

"And the public sex." Kakashi smiled at the reminder, remembering how Guy had blushed for weeks despite not getting caught. "Not to mention the cake incident."

"Fine." Kakashi heaved a long suffering sigh. "I'll wear the damn spandex. But I get to choose whatever I want next time."

"Maybe this isn't such a good ide--"

Kakashi snatched up the green cloth and brandished it at Guy. "Too late. I'll do it." He stripped and pulled on the jumpsuit. Who knew it felt just as clingy from the inside as it looked from the outside? Despite the discomfort, Kakashi couldn't tamp down on the smirk stretching his lips. "Think of it this way, Guy. It can't be as bad as the thing with the cake."

Guy did not look reassured.

Re: Second Guy/Kakashi

[fascimility.livejournal.com]

[Holy crap. The first one wrenched my insides very very subtly. Subtly, but oh, painfully like never. This is all my fault for giving prompts from which nothing good will come out of. The second one is love. :D really. It made my day. Because I honestly worship your writing, I offer up my own writing (which is admittedly lousy and of dubious quality) in exchange for more. Not exactly fair, but.]

One day when you're saner you'll go through the dregs of your memory and trawl the bottom of that bottomless pit. It's futile, but that doesn't stop you; not when your mind is as convoluted as the hallways that make up the labrinth of memories that you live in. Mai-to. Gai. Mai. To. THe syllables on your tongue like honey, sugared poison that you loll around your mouth; smooth as gumdrop candy, twice as sweet. The name's at the tip of your tongue, waiting to slip out, quietly, devastatingly: it'll be your downfall, one day, it will.

When he comes in from the rain, all tousled and subdued and damp, with the spring fresh over his shoes and hair you don't even look up from the book cradled between your hands, pages long neglected. After checking discretely to see that Icha Icha Paradise isn't upside down like the last time, you look up and allow yourself to bestow the object of your obsession (love? annoyance?) a grunt of acknowledgement and a bland, rain-water thin smile. Later when you've pressed him up against the bookcase with his legs parted and your pants pooled at your knees you don't think about obssesion, because admitting obsession is a weakness, and you abhor admitting weakness. There's soil on his clothes and the damp grassy scent on his skin; he smells of soap, manly strength, and rain-soaked earth. He thrusts a little too yieldingly, too softly, too gently. His coal black hair is limp on your back. The fan is spinning overhead, like the pit of our stomach as it is now, delirious with the weight of dread. He frowns, and you think: maybe it's pity (or rage) in those clouded eyes.

[.......this drabble thing has spawned a huge fic in my head. This, would be just the beginning. XD]

Re: Second Guy/Kakashi

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

[Write it. Write iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Um, I'm going to apologize for inflicting this next piece on you. Maybe I should change my playlist.]

The cicadas chirped their lonely song, and a single frog added its own dubious baritone to their chorus. The night was unusually cool for the season, pleasant after the muggy heat of the day. The smell of the tea and tatami were comforting, comfortable.

Kakashi rubbed his eyes. You were right, he thought. I'd rather stay, he thought. "I should go," he said. He took another sip of the tea, gone tepid and bitter in his mouth.

"If you have to," Guy said, sipped his own tea, then held the cup in his hands, looking down into its contents. What fortune did he read there, in the leaves? Kakashi didn't want to know.

Kakashi put his cup down with care. The clink of glass on wood was louder than expected. Guy continued to stare into his tea.

"See you around," Kakashi said. He pulled up his mask, then stood. He stepped down into the entrance, stared at his sandals for a few moments.

Guy looked up. He was frowning. When he slammed the cup down, dregs slopping out the side and onto the table, Kakashi winced a little underneath the mask and pulled on his sandals. He half expected Guy to follow him out.

The walk home was cold, lonely as the cicada's song.

[imbrii.livejournal.com]

Temari had no idea why Tenten came to her for sex advice. She was minding her own business in a bathhouse, soaking in a sinful amount of water when Tenten entered and said "I need some advice," and starting pouring out how Neji was a dead fuck and Tenten was ridiculously virginal.
It went on and on and on until the Sunagakure shinobi couldn't fucking take it anymore. "Get dressed and find your prissy boyfriend."
"What?" Tenten blinked her big brown eyes, stopping mid-sentence about how she was scared about going down on Neji or some shit. Amateurs.
"I don't do advice," Temari explained as she stood up, not bothering to hide her body with a towel. "I do hands-on.”

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

Right before Ino began at the Academy, she'd climbed with her mother to the top of the steps carved steep into the side of the hokage memorial. As they'd approached, her mother had pointed each hokage out and told their story. When she reached the last, she stammered a little over the end of his story. "And then he sealed--he. He saved the village." After a brooding moment, she buried her hand in Ino's hair and concluded, "He was a very great man."

When they reached the top, Ino's mother had unpacked the satchel she'd brought along and spread out a small blanket and lunch. "Look," she said, gesturing out at the village spread out below them. "Look at what is so important that we must sacrifice all. Remember this."

Ino had gazed out, all the buildings and people bustling the streets tiny at this distance, like porcelain figurines that could fit on her shelf at home. Her mother's hand dug into Ino's shoulder, but her arms were warm around Ino's body.

"Remember," her mother repeated. "Remember why you must be strong."

And so Ino did.

And just for you: hokage Lee AU snippet that wouldn't have made it in anyway

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

"It's too soon," Guy finally admitted, unusually still for someone usually making stealth maneuvers to steal the covers or clinging close for what he claimed was warmth and was absolutely not cuddling, of course not--what sort of fool would try cuddling with the cool, cold, distant Sharingan user Hatake Kakashi?

Kakashi wondered if he should pretend sleep, or if after all the years they'd finally reached a point that was no longer the expected or excusable response. He shifted a hand along Guy's shoulder blade, but not so far it couldn't be excused as merely shifting in his sleep.

After a few minutes, he asked, "Did you expect to feel only pride?"

"He's my student," said Guy. "Of course I should be proud."

Kakashi pressed a kiss of comfort against the same shoulder--that Kakashi was apparently insatiable was always readily available as a reason.

"But he's my student. And I know he's not ready."

The room was dark, and the summer heat beat down against Kakashi's skin. The sheets rustled as he shifted to lay across Guy's back, pressed his head next to Guy's on the pillow. "Yeah," he said. "I know."

They shouldn't talk about it. They couldn't, really, not even here. This was a shinobi village, and the first thing Kakashi had learned was that nowhere was safe for some conversations.

Finally, he added, "I'll keep an eye out."

Guy turned over underneath Kakashi, placed his palms against Kakashi's neck and spine. He didn't say "thank you," except with his hands and mouth, tumbling them over and pressing Kakashi against the bed. And it was this, this sudden display of need and affection, that told Kakashi just how worried Guy was.

BAD ATTEMPT AT LEE/GAARA FEMSLASH

[imbrii.livejournal.com]

Lee had always had a dream of being swept off her feet by a handsome young man. As she grew older, and realized she was really quite ugly, that changed to sweeping some man off his feet. That didn't work out so well either, given her success rate.

As Gaara shoves Lee back into a wall and bites her neck hard enough to draw blood, the young woman, between yelped protests, wonders if this is considered being swept off her feet, or is more being pushed down the stairs.

The voice raspy as sand growls “Mine,” and Lee decides it’s a nice thing, either way.

Journal log, Konoha day 3

[blackheisei.livejournal.com]

[As previously suspected, trees make people strange. This is the only explanation for the behavior of the ninja of this village. Some chemical in the pollen... maybe spores from the mushrooms.

They eat mushrooms. Kankuro informs me that mushrooms can be dangerous, containing toxins that kill or impair. I find this telling evidence.

Rock Lee is a prime subject for observation. While his strength is impressive, his training methods are reckless. I find it suspect that he actually DESIRES to behave like his teacher. Also: Lee eats mushrooms. FROM THE GROUND. He picked one off the ground of the forest, brushed it off, and ATE IT. It must be the mushrooms.

...I must see if I can get Temari to eat one. So that I can observe her behavior. I would try Kankuro, but I am unsure I would be able to tell if his strange behavior was fungus related, or traumatic brain injury from battle.

...That is another possible explanation for Rock Lee. I must observe more.

Gaara]

Re: Journal log, Konoha day 3

[blackheisei.livejournal.com]

Naruto would never say it out loud, (at least not where Gaara could hear him) but it was kind of cute to watch him follow Lee around. The note book think was kinda creepy, but far from the strangest thing people did in their spare time.

It was also kinda cute how Lee was pretending to not notice the fact that Gaara had been following him nonstop for the past three days. The idea of LEE and GAARA was still kind of... yeah... but it was nice to see his friends getting along. Gaara needed more friends anyways.

As Naruto wandered off, whistling tunelessly, Gaara flipped a page and made more notes.

Not everyone in Konoha reacted to news of their special bloodlines with joy and celebration

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

When Shino was three, his father took him out to the woods to observe the insects. Shino was kind of scared, but at least they were outside and so it didn't seem that bad. Then his father said in what was likely intended as a passing comment, "Of course, these aren't the same as the ones currently in you, but—"

It was at this point that Shino's terrified shrieking cut off whatever his father had been about to say.

Despite only being three, it took ten minutes and some Nara intervention to get Shino calmed down enough to stop clawing at his skin in panic. Tranquilizers were involved.

--

"Seriously, that can't be the reason you cover yourself up," Kiba said, trying to peer into the coat.

Shino gazed back, easier to deadpan with the sunglasses hiding the way he, too, looked at the coat, though with a more uneasy gaze. "I told you," he said. "I'm very body shy."

These days he was even able to completely cover the shudder as he felt the insects move uneasily under his skin at the not-quite lie.

Re: Not everyone in Konoha reacted to news of their special bloodlines with joy and celebration

[tuesdayfic.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time, there was a peach tree in the Hatake gardens.

In the spring, clumps of blossoms covered the branches and carpeted the ground, and its sweet scent added to the air of the garden's seeming haven.

In summer, the blossoms had fallen entirely and in their place were peaches, growing heavier and heavier until they were perfect to be plucked from their branch, teeth sinking into the meat of the fruit and mouth filling with juice that dribbled out and down the chin, the forearms, until the world felt sticky and sweet.

Early fall wasn't too bad, leaves a kind shelter from the sun striking during the still warm days. It was possible to take a book or scroll and study for hours before being called in.

Winter, the bare branches reached to the sky like hands and arms beseeching, and that was when Kakashi identified with it the most.

Years later, the fruit was left for the birds to feast and the remains to rot, and he was not the one to shelter there. He'd left the house and its garden and peach tree with other childish things.